Poll: Most in NJ have suffered financially in '08

November 20, 2008 5:47:56 AM PST

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - November 20, 2008 --

Fifty-nine percent of New Jerseyans say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago, and most don't expect their personal finances to get any better in the year ahead. That's according to a new poll released Thursday by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

But New Jerseyans do believe that the economy will get better by the end of President-elect Barack Obama's first term. That includes 86 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of independents and 41 percent of the Republican voters who took part in the poll.

Meanwhile, though, 41 percent say they're worried or somewhat worried about losing their jobs and more than half say they've lost a lot of money in their personal retirement plan.

The poll surveyed 2,020 New Jersey registered voters from Nov. 13-17 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.